I am looking for a keyboard shortcut to start and stop voice control (not voice over, that is different). Someone answered how to do this in another post, but the solution no longer works with the latest OS I am running, MacOS 15.3.1. Here is a screenshot of the Shortcuts app. Thanks!
MacBook Air 15″, macOS 15.3
Re: "Keyboard shortcut to start and stop voice control"
To turn on, and / or see the keyboard shortcut for Voice Control on your system:
For Mac OS 15 Sequioa : See: Quickly turn accessibility features on or off on Mac - Apple Support
Eg; says:
"Additional accessibility shortcuts you can use and customise can be found in Keyboard settings.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu 
> System Settings, then click Keyboard 
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.) Click Keyboard Shortcuts on the right,
then in the dialogue that appears, click Accessibility in the sidebar. See Use macOS keyboard shortcuts."
________
More info : other methods for turning on and off: Turn Voice Control on or off on Mac - Apple Support
Re: "Keyboard shortcut to start and stop voice control"
To turn on, and / or see the keyboard shortcut for Voice Control on your system:
For Mac OS 15 Sequioa : See: Quickly turn accessibility features on or off on Mac - Apple Support
Eg; says:
"Additional accessibility shortcuts you can use and customise can be found in Keyboard settings.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Keyboard
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.) Click Keyboard Shortcuts on the right,
then in the dialogue that appears, click Accessibility in the sidebar. See Use macOS keyboard shortcuts."
________
More info : other methods for turning on and off: Turn Voice Control on or off on Mac - Apple Support
I went to settings, keyboard, keyboard shortcuts, accessibility. Unfortunately, there is no option here for Voice Control, which is a bit maddening.
Then I used this article that you provided, followed the instructions and clicked voice control. I can now turn voice control on and off by pressing the touch ID three times quickly. This is a bit cumbersome because I have chronic pain from too much typing. Also, if I don't click fast enough, the touch ID thinks I'm locking the computer, and my computer locks. I can also click option-command-F5. Not ideal, but better than nothing.
If someone knows a better way, to press ONE key ONE TIME for MacOS 15.3.1 that would be great. I love Apple, but sometimes these things make no sense... Thanks for your help!!
I have looked on my system and I can see that Voice Control is not available in the shortcuts actions anymore - who knows why as having shortcuts add options for those who cannot use the more conventional controls.
Interestingly, the shortcut I created before MacOS15 to do this still works! I have shared the link to my shortcut here: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/570f35778a98458ab31d6879a1344499
No idea if it will work but perhaps worth a try.
To add a keyboard shortcut to run this shortcut open the shortcut in the app, open the Shortcut Details area (click the i symbol top right) and in there you can set a keyboard key to run the shortcut.
Hope that helps.
It would be good if Apple did not put these features out and remove them. Some people depend on them.
Thanks for letting me know.
FYI the Voice control action is still available in the iOS shortcuts app. (iOS 18.3.1) I created a shortcut on iOS then sync'd through iCloud to the Mac. The Shortcut worked at switching Voice Control on and off on the Mac.
I haven't used Vocal Shortcuts for this purpose so cannot say if it works either, but you can use Siri to turn voice control on and off. Just say "Turn on Voice control" when Siri is active. e.g. Hey Siri, turn voice control on"
Thank you kindly for your reply, and for sharing your experience with the community.
Re:" If someone knows a better way, to press ONE key ONE TIME for MacOS 15.3.1 that would be great."
You may want to try asking the experts on Apple's Accessibility support team:
See: How to contact Apple for help with accessibility features - Apple Support
or
Via Apple's Accessibility Support Website
(NB: You can "Get Support" (online chat / phone / email etc.)from the link at the bottom of their website) Accessibility Support - Official Apple Support
Else: With no way of trying these out on my own system n order to check:
May or may not be possible to use a sound or phrase as a shortcut.
Use Vocal Shortcuts on Mac - Apple Support
says:
"With Vocal Shortcuts, you can teach your Mac to perform an action when you speak a word or another sound of your choosing. Note: Vocal Shortcuts is available only on Mac computers with Apple silicon. Audio is processed on device."
I tried this and unfortunately it didn't work. It worked about 1 time out of 10. Thanks though.
Thank you for sharing, ak1956 :-)
Keyboard shortcut to start and stop voice control
